Movable plating apparatus.



No. 887,539. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. A

G. P. STEVENS.

MOVABLE PLATING APPARATUS. APPLIOATIOK FILED AUG. 27. 1907.

. fiiyenfir:

GEORGE PQSTEVENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOVABLE PLATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Application filed August 2'7, 1907. Serial No. 890,328.

T all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEoReE P. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful mprovements in Movable PlatingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

In the art of electro-plating, especially nickel-plating, it isgenerally understood that the rapidity of the deposit of nickel willdepend upon the strength of the electric current and the richness of theplating solution, but it has also been found that, under ordinaryconditions, the work can be successfully performed only by means of acurrent of moderate strength and a solution of predetermined richness,since any increase in the strength of current or in the richness of thesolution will tend to burn or blacken the work and thereby destroy itsvalue.

The object of the present invention is to enable the plating operationto be performed by a current of much greater intensity and in a strongersolution, which proportionately increases the rapidity with which theplating can be .done and correspondingly increases the capacity of theplating tank.

By employing the method of the present invention it has been found, fromactual test, that the work can be accomplished in substantiallyone-third the time ordinarily employed. It has, furthermore, been shownthat the work plated by the apparatus of the present invention isbrighter and more satisfactory in character than that produced by theordinary methods.

The invention consists in the, features of construction and combinationof parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top or plan view of a plating tankprovided with the reciprocating supporting rods of the presentinvention; Fig. 2 a side elcvat ion of the same; F lg. 3 an endelevation of the same; and Fig. 4 a slightly modified form of actuatingmechanism.

The device of the present invention is employed in connection with atank 5 of the usual construction, comprising side Walls 6 and end walls7 and 8. The tank has ex tending from end to end thereof one or moresupporting rods 9, two being shown in the present embodiment oftheinvention. The supporting rods usually employed in con neclion withplating tanks are stationary, but the gist of the present inventionresides l in providing means for reci rocating said rods, which serve tosupport t e work to be moving the work withinthe solution it is possibleto employ a much stronger current and thereby plating operation withoutburning or blackening the work which would invariably result if acurrent of like strength were utilized in plating stationary objectswithin the tank.

A reciprocating motion can be lmparted to the supporting rods in any oneof several ways, but the mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is ofhighlv satisfactory character by reason of its simplicity, althoughother equivalent mechanical means might be. employed without de )artingfrom the spirit of the invention. The mechanism thus illustratedconsists essentially of a shaft 10, which is journaled within a pair ofsleeves 11, supported upon brackets 12, which are secured to the frontend of the tank and extend upwardly therefrom. The shaft 10 has mountedthereon, near its center, a pair of inwardly facing bevel pinions 13,which mesh with a central bevel pinion 14 carried by a vertical shaft15, which carries a pulley 16, adapted to be actuated by a belt 17,connected with any suitable source of power. The shaft has, on itsopposite ends, a pair of crank wheels 18, each provided with a pluralityof holes 19, radially arranged, which holes permit of the adjustment ofa driving arm of insulating material, which arm is pivoted, at its innerend, to a collar 21, rigid y secured to the reciprocating supporting rodnear the forward end thereof. Each rod is supported up on a )air ofrollers 22, which are journaled within bracket plates 23 at the ends ofthe tank. The supporting rod has connected therewith a flexible wireconnection 24, which leads to a dynamo or other source of electricalpower. The supporting rod is adapted to have the work suspendedtherefrom by hangers or wires in the usual manner, and such rod forms acathode, which .is intended to co- 0 erate' with nickel plates 25, whichcompnsc t 1e anodes, and which are arranged and'connected in the usualmanner.

It will be understood that the manner of applying the current andarranging the work within thetank diil'er not at all from thatordinarily employed in the art of metal platin the embodiment of theinvention shown in Fig. 4, in place of the gear mechanismproportionately facilitate theplated within the solution in the tank. By

driving arms 20 are pivotedto the cranks and actuate the supporting rodsin precisely the same manner as that hitherto described. It is furtherapparent that other mechanical means for movlng the support for the Work-might be provided without changing the plating operation hereindescribed in any manner. g r

In use, the work is suspended from the rods into a suitable solutionwithin the tank and the electric current turned on in suitable volume,and thereafter the mechanism started, which smoothly and evenlyreciprocates the supporting rods and carries the work back and forthwithin the solution without agitating or disturbing it to any pronounceddegree. The rods are preferably reciprocated at a slow enough metepermit the work to hang substantially vertical without being swung orviolently agitated within the tank; This case of movement is desirable,since agitation of the liquid will tend to stir up a sediment, whichordinarily falls to the bottom of the tank and which, if brought incontact with the work, would tend to impair its brightness. The currentcan be turned on to substantially three times or.more the volumeordinarily applied, which enables the work to receive its coating ofnickel or similar metal in substantially one-third of the timeordinarily employed, which of course trebles the capacity of the tankwithout increasing its size or otherwise altering its construction.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A plating apparatus comprising a tank, a support for the workelevated abovethe intended level for the solution in the tank, and meansfor moving the support in opposite directions, as and for the purposeset forth.

2. A plating apparatus com rising a tank, a support for the work elevateabove the intended level for the solution in the tank, and means forreciprocating the support, as and for the purpose set forth.

- 3. In a plating apparatus, the combination of a tank, a longitudinallyextending supporting rod slidably mounted with respect to the tank, andmechanism for reciprocating therod, substantially as described.

4. In a plating apparatus, the combination of a tank, a longitudinallyextending supporting rod slidably mounted with respect to the tank, adriving arm of insulating material connected with the rod, and mechanismfor actuating the driving arm, substantially as described.

5. In a plating apparatus, the combination of a tank, a longitudinallyextending supporting rod slidably mounted with respect to the tank, adriving arm of insulating material connected With the rod, a shaftprovided with i means for rotating the power transmission shaft,substantially as described.

GEORGE P. STEVENS.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL W. BANNING,

WALKER BANNING.

